The Sphinx Situation

Maya regretted everything the moment Jake walked into the escape room wearing that stupidVarsity jacket.

"This is my friend Jake," Ashley had said, all casual, like she hadn't spent three weeks talking about how hot Jake was in AP Bio. "He's cool with joining, right?"

Maya's fifteenth birthday escape room was officially ruined.

The four of them stood inside the Pharaoh's Chamber, surrounded by hieroglyphics that looked like someone's drunk attempt at Egyptian fan art. The room smelled like artificial fog machine and middle school memories.

"Okay," Liam said, clapping his hands together. "We need to solve the riddle of the sphinx to unlock the next door."

He pointed at the fiberglass sphinx statue in the corner, which had seen better decades. Its paint was chipped, revealing gray underneath, and one of its eyes was scratched like it'd gotten into a fight.

Maya crossed her arms. "Let me guess. It's gonna ask us what walks on four legs in the morning, two at noon—"

"Three in the evening," Jake finished, flashing a smile that made Ashley's face do this weird thing.

Maya rolled her eyes so hard she practically saw her own brain. "Original."

"It's literally the most famous riddle ever, Maya."

"Whatever. Let's just solve it so we can get to the pyramid room and Ashley can continue not making eye contact with you."

Ashley's face turned approximately the color of a ripe tomato. "I—what? I'm not—"

"You literally just did it again," Liam said, because Liam had no survival instincts.

They had to work together to stack these foam blocks into a pyramid shape, which was somehow the most embarrassing thing Maya had ever done. Jake was frustratingly competent at it, his hands steady as he placed each block, while Maya's hands shook like she'd had five energy drinks.

Which she had.

Jake kept glancing at her, though. Not Ashley. Her.

"You're good at this," Jake said, as Maya positioned the final block.

"It's literally stacking foam squares, Jake. A kindergartener could do it."

"Yeah, but you're—" He stopped. "You're not wrong."

The sphinx's mouth opened with a sound like a dying cat, and a small drawer slid out. Inside was a plastic scarab beetle and a note: *CONGRATULATIONS! YOU HAVE 12 MINUTES REMAINING.*

"We're gonna die in here," Maya groaned.

Jake laughed, and something weird happened in her chest. Like, heart-weird. Not like, medical emergency weird. Or maybe both. She couldn't tell.

"Hey," he said, bumping her shoulder with his. "At least we're not alone."

Ashley cleared her throat loudly. "So, Jake, what's your Zodiac sign?"

"Taurus," he said, still looking at Maya. "Why?"

Maya closed her eyes. Of course. Of course he was a bull. Of course this was happening.

"That makes so much sense," she muttered.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You're stubborn. You literally insisted on arranging the pyramid blocks in descending size order when the instructions said size didn't matter."

"I like order."

"You're such a bull."

He smiled. It was different this time. Warmer. "Yeah. Maybe."

Liam checked his phone. "We have eight minutes to escape this room or I'm missing my curfew and my mom will actually ground me until I'm thirty."

Maya looked at Jake, who was already looking at her.

"Well," she said. "Let's do this."

They didn't escape in time, and Maya didn't care at all.